Don’t steal. It’s not nice ‘yo

On Monday, I went to the OB/GYN for my six week postpartum checkup. After getting my vitals checked and a quick violation to make sure everything was in order, I sat up and the doctor wanted to discuss what my plans for contraception were.

Oh yea. I forgot I needed to talk to him about that. Thank GOD he reminded me. That would have sucked.

Now, OBVIOUSLY, the mini-pill isn’t a good choice for me. The fact that you have to take it at the same time every day, lest is lose it’s effectiveness and I end up pregnant again kind of screws me up. So needless to say, that was out of the question for me, as well as for the doctor.

What I really want is an IUD, like Mirena. I think I’m the perfect candidate for it, I’ve had two babies, I don’t want to have another for a couple of years, and I’m obviously no good with oral contraception. And when I mentioned this was my ideal choice as far as a form of birth control, he agreed he thought it’d be best, even after we discussed the foam and all that other stuff. Yea, he doesn’t think we’d be good with the foam, since you have to wait a few before you “get it on,” you know?

So, he tells me Mirena is the best choice, he thinks it’s a great idea and hands me an information pamphlet and tells me to just call and make an appointment whenever I’m ready to decide. I leave, hop in the van and read the pamphlet on the way home, just to make sure this is what I want to do. Having something put in my uterus that could potentially perforate it or fall out makes me a wee bit nervous, but in the end, I decide it’s the best choice.

Yesterday, I called the insurance company to make sure that they cover it, because that would suck to go to do this and then find out that we owe a butt load of money, because that happened before with them. They have a habit of being screwy, but since this is a common thing, I didn’t expect any issue.

Thankfully I did call however, because, as it turns out, with our insurance company, IUD’s are not covered. Not only are IUD’s not covered, no form of contraception is covered unless the state mandates that it must be. Guess what? Virginia? Not one of those states. So, it’s bad enough that I can’t get the form of birth control I want without paying for it in full, but I can’t get any form of birth control without paying for it in full. What the eff is up with that??

This is something I just don’t understand. Why is it that they wouldn’t want to pay the, roughly, $900 to prevent unwanted pregnancies?? Now, I understand not covering IUD’s, but not covering any type of birth control?? Make everyone’s life a little easier. Yes, of course, there are other options; I could pay the $900 myself for it, or just use the foam or condoms from now until we decide to have another baby. But, really, that’s not the point. Chris pays for these benefits every week. It’s bad enough that Chris was paying for benefits that I wasn’t receiving, so now that I am, the one thing I really need it for isn’t even covered. I mean, we have so many issues with this insurance company, from not receiving benefits (as I mentioned), to being lied to, to getting screwed with our prescription coverage as well too. It’s a shitty insurance, and I’m just waiting for the ball to drop as far as my stay in the hospital.

So, now, I have to figure something out with this. Do we want to just pay the $900 and hope the damn thing works, or do we want to forgo anything that involves doctor’s and prescriptions? The thing is, we can’t leave it up to chance, after the last two times of getting pregnant when I shouldn’t have been able to, not being careful is a mighty big risk. Knowing my luck, in a few months, I’d end up pregnant again and being screwed over by the insurance company, again.

I just don’t understand how something that is supposed to make life easier, rarely ever does. At least, if you’re a self-pay patient, you know you’re going to be paying in full for services. With insurance, you’re under the assumption that you’re being taken care of, and then all of a sudden, WHAM! You’re paying $1000 for something you didn’t plan on having to pay for. It’s messed up.

6 Responses

I have had a total of five insurance companies and not a single one of them covered contraception with the exception of covering the first $750 of a sterilization procedure. It’s pretty common and in fact I haven’t known any woman whose insurance covered contraception unless it was needed for a medical reason (balance hormones, decrease heavy bleeding due to cysts, etc.).

However, Planned Parenthood does offer free or reduced contraception based on a sliding scale. The one in CVille only offers reduced rates but I think the clinic in Richmond is a sliding scale clinic and they offer Mirena!

It doesn’t matter if you have insurance or not. For a lot of women PP is their obgyn. You might want to check the health department also, I believe they also provide birth control and they will also see you whether or not you have insurance.

I’m a big fan of both places to be honest. I’ve gone to the health department for the kids’ dental visits and for vaccinations every now and then and they are EXCELLENT. The CVille PP (which you went with me once) is also excellent, their doctors are just stellar and it’s so nice and comfy inside (with the exception of the bullet proof glass encasing that surrounds the office, haha). The Health Department has that really “icky” feel about it but everyone is so nice and helpful.